November 10, 2005

John Cole Black

from - smijer

I still read John Cole as much as I did when I was linking to him all the time... you know, when he was coming out almost every day against the Schiavoniks, the homo haters, and the torture-mongers. Yes, he is a Bush- and War-apologist: more the latter than the former. Who voted for Bush in the last election; who considers themselves "conservative" any more that isn't at least somewhat infected with the pro-war and pro-Bush religion?

What I admire, and admired about Cole was his willingness to be a voice of conscience against some of the most unconscionable of right-wing offenses against morality.

So, when the White Phosphorus story broke, I clicked over to Balloon Juice to see how he would deal with that issue... would it be John Cole White, who repudiates those actions of the radical right which clearly violate common decency? Or would it be the Bush/War apologist... the one that I was beginning to think the rational side had beaten down permanently - John Cole Black?

There is plenty of evidence to convince a reasonable skeptic that WP was used as an anti-personell agent in urban warfare in Fallujah, with no regard for the lives or health of civilians living there. There is plenty of evidence that the DoD knew about the likelihood of this scenario and took no action to discourage it. There is plenty of evidence that the President and his administration are more inclined to cover up and maintain a status quo where this can occur than to prevent it. Yet, Cole Black, the War Apologist, is outraged at Democrats who "Blame the Troops".

The fact that the Right's most strongly moral and one of their most intelligent proponents can have a lapse like this is proof that the condition of modern conservatism is one of moral and intellectual disease.

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Posted by smijer at November 10, 2005 09:54 PM

Comments

Interesting discussion going on over there.

I have been watching this WP development for a few days now. I'll keep watching until it dissipates and is replaced by something else.

It is awful. It is tragic. It is war and the current administration would have it no other way. I sincerely believe that the next administration won't change things.

Many, many more people are going to die and they are going to die in many horrible ways.

We will discuss legality while they make funeral plans.

As one guy over at Cole's already said "over there it is war, over here it is theater".

If you are looking for a fair fight, go to a boxing match, not a war. War by definition is not a fair fight -- no matter how much you would like to sanitize it.

USMC Rules For Gunfighting

1. Be courteous to everyone, friendly to no one.
2. Decide to be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.
3. Have a plan.
4. Have a back-up plan, because the first one probably won't work.
5. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet.
6. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun whose caliber does not start with a "4."
7. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap. Life is expensive.
8. Move away from your attacker. Distance is your friend.
(Lateral and diagonal movement are preferred.)
9. Use cover or concealment as much as possible.
10. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.
11. Always cheat; always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.
12. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.
13. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating and reloading.
14. Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.
15. And above all ... don't drop your guard.

Yeah, I might adopt some similar rules myself if my kids wound up burned to death by White Phosphorus, or my relatives are held incommunicado and tortured based on solely suspicion... Although I think I would still try to keep enough reason about me to remember not to become as bad as the people who did it to me... Burning their kids with White Phosphorus and torturing their relatives based soley on suspicion won't help... But I would do my best to make sure they don't get a chance to do it again.

Of course, all of this would be moot if the Commander in Chief heeded my personal rule #1 - don't fight unless you have to.

No on Jarhead. Don't get to movies often so I may have to wait for the DVD.

For you Smijer ... Or maybe if one of your friends or family was beheaded or got a little to close to an IED. Or perhaps when you realized that the "Freedom Fighter's" view of winning the hearts and minds of his fellow Iraqi's is blowing up children in a marketplace. Or maybe when a couple's idea of a lovely night out is to go blow themselves up at a wedding.

Schiavo was a turning point for me. Especially Jesse Jackson and Ralph Nader expressing support for her parents, and Nader explaining it would be illegal to treat a dog the way Florida courts were treating Schiavo. It was a moment that convinced me Liberals weren't Liberal anymore. Something seariously wrong.

On this issue, Nader & Jackson certainly were not representative of liberals as a whole... Liberals - and most thinking conservatives - disagreed strongly with Nader & Jackson on this point...

The turning point for me was the spineless reaction of the Democrats to Bush's overtures for immediate and unconditional war... Real liberals - the ones like me who opposed unthinking aggression - felt like we had no representation in government... and really still feel that way, despite Edwards' apology and Harry Reid's ascendancy to leadership, bringing a concerted Democratic effort at bringing about some accountability for past misdeeds on the part of the administration.

Maybe after 2006, liberal values will once again be represented in government... but I'm not holding my breath.